Carter Murder Trial Opens With New Details

Carter Murder Trial Opens With New Details

Daily Real Estate News |
Thursday, January 14, 2016

The murder trial of Arron Lewis, the man accused of killing Arkansas real estate agent Beverly Carter in September 2014, began Wednesday with two very different accounts of Carter's death. In opening arguments, prosecutors described a brutal slaying while the defense claimed Carter accidentally died during a consensual sex act, according to Newson6.com in Little Rock, Ark.

Defense lawyer Bill James presented the theory that Carter's death occurred during a sexual tryst with Lewis, which Pulaski County deputy prosecutor Barbara Mariani called a "complete fabrication." Mariani said Lewis and his estranged wife, Crystal Lowery, lured Carter to a vacant home in a rural area outside Little Rock, kidnapping her and demanding a ransom from her husband.

But Mariani revealed a new detail in Carter's death, alleging that Lewis killed Carter after wrapping her head in duct tape six times, covering her nose and mouth. "The last thing that Beverly experienced was unspeakable horror at that man's hands," Mariani said.

Mariani disputed the defense's claim of sexual contact between Lewis and Carter, noting that Lewis' wife pled guilty to first-degree murder in the case last year and will testify about how she and Lewis searched for a married real estate agent they could target for ransom.

Carter was reported missing in September 2014 after meeting a supposed prospective buyer for a showing at a vacant home in rural Scott, Ark. A massive search followed, leading to the discovery days later of her body in a shallow grave at a concrete company.